phishing

Google wants to hire me! And they’ll pay me $90k a year! I’ll bet you’ve seen this email, too. So, how do you sign up? The answer is, by giving away all of your personal information to a scammer who doesn’t care where you live, what you do now, or what skills you have. No, all he wants for this Google job email scam is for you to click a link so he can collect his paycheck.

The Google job email scam should be easy to spot

The email has no salutation

It refers to a numbered position, which makes it generic enough to work for any position from accountants or system programmers.

This came as a complete surprise. I hadn’t applied for a Google job, so why would they hire me when they have perfectly good applicants who want to work for them?

The email is showing HTML code, which is a mistake Google would never let through.

Take the standard email precautions

Obviously, you don’t want to be caught by the Google job email scam. Take these standard precautions to avoid a problem.

If you use a spam blocker, mark the email as spam to eliminate this sender in the future.

Delete the email and do not click the links.

If you do click a link in the email by accident, close your browser and do not click on any website popup boxes. These popup boxes can contain links to malware.

Xarelto lawsuit settlement scam emails are flooding inboxes, bringing with them the possibility of further harm to those who believe they may have sustained injuries from the prescription of this blood thinner. What makes these emails especially troublesome are the pending lawsuits against Janssen Pharmaceutical and Bayer Healthcare about the safety of Xarelto.

What’s behind the Xarelto lawsuit settlement

Xarelto was approved for use in the US in 2011 by the FDA. Since its approval, patients taking the drug have been injured and/or died. The lawsuits maintain there is a clear link between the affected patients and Xarelto. The lawsuits also state patients were not properly informed of the risks associated with this drug.

Attorneys are aggressively marketing to potentially injured patients as they file suits in court. In a very short period of time, I found five attorneys who had websites or web pages dedicated to informing the public about the drug, the associated risks, and, of course, their services in representing those who feel they have been injured. One of those attorneys has gone so far as to set up a Facebook page about the Xarelto lawsuit.

What’s behind the Xarelto lawsuit settlement emails

As usual, those behind the Xarelto lawsuit settlement emails are preying on a current stressful situation as they attempt to lure victims into their phishing net. This scam may have been triggered by recent increased marketing efforts on the part of the manufacturers to maintain market share. Increased advertising by a company, of course, raises the awareness level of consumers. The increased level of awareness trickles down to those who make their living sending spam and phishing. The bottom line is if you have received an email regarding the Xarelto settlement lawsuit, discard it.

Xarelto lawsuit settlement and social media

As I mentioned, there’s at least one Facebook page already set up to bring in clients. Whether the firm behind this page is legitimate, I don’t know. There are also user groups set up on Facebook for those who have used the drug. My suggestion is to approach all advice and referrals from social media cautiously because, in reality, you never really know who you’re dealing with unless you know them personally.

As the release date for the Apple iPhone 6s draws near, the Apple iPhone scam is becoming more popular with scammers, who are gearing up to take advantage of the unprecedented consumer interest in the product. Prognosticators are expecting the iPhone 6s to be Apple’s most popular release yet. Scammers are well aware that consumers will be looking for deals. As a result, scammers are ramping up their efforts to make their money on Apple’s “next big thing.”

Example of the Apple iPhone scam

I’ve received different versions of this email, but they’re basically the same. Here’s one example.

What does Apple say about the Apple iPhone scam?

A friend of mine received the Apple iPhone scam via email and called her local Apple store. They said they’d been getting a number of phone calls and confirmed that the emails were not from Apple.

Tips about the Apple iPhone email scam

Never click a link in an unsolicited email. In most cases, the site you land on will be a phishing site where the owner is trying to collect your personal information. However, you could also become the victim of a malicious software download.

Scammers have taken to putting in all sorts of extraneous text into their emails. This text helps them escape email spam filters. The text takes the form of restaurant reviews, travel reviews, and other completely unrelated nonsense. If you need a laugh, there’s no harm in scrolling to the bottom of these emails to see what was included in your copy. Just don’t click on anything!

The iPhone 6 scam emails will change as the product release date nears. Most likely, they will take on a “contest” theme, with scammers offering up a free iPhone to anyone who enters their contest. These contests are almost always bogus, but the peril to your personal information very real. Do not enter the contest unless you know with 100% certainty that it’s being run by a legitimate company.

Be aware of the Facebook version of this scam. It’s being run on a Facebook page titled “iPhone 6s” by people who have not revealed anything about themselves. The page launched on March 29 and said “they” would give away 300 iPhones on May 10. After May 10, the contest changed to a July ending date with 30 phones being given away. There may not seem to be much danger in Liking that page, but if you do, you’ll be letting these people know who you are so they can target you in the future.

The HARP refinance emails have been coming in with surprising regularity. To be blunt, these emails are nothing more than a scam. One of the difficulties with many of these emails is that they don’t display the classic signs of spam, i.e., spelling and grammar are good and they don’t include a generic salutation. They do, however, rely heavily on images to portray a professional image.

The HARP program will expire on December 31, 2015, which means there will likely be an increasing focus on this scam during the next twelve months. The government’s warning about HARP scams assumes you’ve already decided to refinance. They warn consumers to check out the organization they’re using to refinance and even maintain a listing consumers can check to verify the validity of the company they will be working with.

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The barrage of emails to refinance are merely another lure to entice victims into giving away their personal information.

Tip 1: The example I’m using was sent using the name of HARP__Refinance. The use of underscores in a sender name should be an immediate giveaway that there’s something fishy with this one. The second issue is with the sender’s email address. A check of this email’s return address showed it to be from HARP___Refinance@civet.info. Obviously, this is not a legitimate organization.

The Zillow real estate website offers a frequently asked questions page for consumers and a warning to avoid this scam by following two simple rules, which brings us to tips 2 and 3.

Tip 2: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t fall for absurdly good promises.

Tip 3: Do not depend on the HARP logo. The problem is that anyone can use the logo until they get caught. Some of the current HARP emails will use the logo and some will not. Do not depend on a logo as a sign of validity.

If a HARP refinancing is something you’re interested in, ditch those spam emails—they’ll only bring you a virus, malware, or make you the victim of identity theft—and check out the real program at HARP.gov.

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Got opinions? Want to get paid to express them? That’s exactly what this tip is all about. Let’s call this one the Fake Survey Scam. It all starts with an email that looks something like this.

Hello,

There’s an exclusive new opportunity that has just popped up online. This special opportunity is available by invite only.

A few people were picked and we decided we would invite you as one of them. In this opportunity you can earn an income from home using nothing but your computer. There’s no marketing to do, no experience necessary.

All you’ve got to do is give your opinion by checking a couple of boxes and completing a couple of forms and you will be compensated for your time.

Time is of the essence! See you there.

Sincerely,

John

P.S. – This may just be the break you’ve been looking for.

In the spirit of the offer, I figured I’d jump right in at the beginning. I’ll use the good old “Pass-Fail” method as a way to grade. Harsh, I know.

Solicitation: Dear John, you’ve received a big Fail on the solicitation. The email tells me I’m one of just a few people picked for this exclusive opportunity. If I’m so special, how come you didn’t use my name?

Overall tone: Nice job, John. I’ll give you a Pass on this. The email is friendly, almost folksy. You’re missing a few commas, but other than the comma deficit, it’s not a bad way to write. And, by the way, you done did good on the grammer and speling. Didn’t see no screw ups there. (Can you spot mine, John? Brownie points if you can!)

Call to action: Fail. While it’s true the email gave me three links to a site called “click4surveys.com,” there was no “click here” demand. I suggest you tune into some online marketing blogs for the fine points on how to make a more compelling argument.

Online Reputation: Oh, very bad. Big Fail here, too. I went to Web of Trust and looked up the site. Ouch. Bad rep. Looking at the domain name for click4surveys, I found that the domain is registered to Ricky Powers in Holland, MI. But, the big ouch comes in because in the past 11 years, the domain has been through 16 changes in hosting. What this most likely means is that the domain registrars and hosting companies aren’t fond of Ricky . . . or John . . . or whoever he is.

Business Reputation: This company is listed on bbb.org as a work-at-home company. Their rating at bbb.org is a solid F. So, everybody, take note. That F is a solid Fail no matter what rating system we use.

PS This may be just the break the sender of the email was looking for, but certainly not me. How about you? Have you tried one of these companies? Shied away? Sound off below!